Remember The Name "exelon"

November 20, 2008

It could be a good first test of whether the Obama administration really is all that different. From a Politicopiece about Rahm Emanuel's short but lucrative i-banking career:

One signature transaction was the $16 billion merger of Unicom Corp.
and PECO Energy Co. into Exelon Corp., now one of the nation’s largest
electric utilities, with nearly $19 billion in annual revenue. The
company owns 17 nuclear reactors, which produce about 20 percent of the
nation’s nuclear power.

[snip]

The merger created a job for John Rowe, the CEO of Unicom who went on
to become CEO of the merged company, Exelon. And Emanuel and Rowe have
remained personally friendly.

After the Nov. 4 election, Emanuel was shopping in a bookstore when he
called Rowe on his cell phone, asking for guidance on whether he should
take the top White House staff job, according to The Washington Post.

Emanuel’s elevation to the White House comes at a pivotal time for the
company he helped create. Exelon is now involved in a hostile takeover
bid for the assets of NRG Energy, which would create the nation’s
largest power company. NRG rejected Exelon’s initial bid of more than
$6 billion, calling the offer too low.

The deal potentially faces a host of regulatory and government
approvals, and industry insiders will be watching to see that Exelon is
treated fairly by the Obama administration.

Donors affiliated with Exelon gave Obama’s presidential campaign more
than $197,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

“The Obama administration seems to be trying to set a high ethical
standard,” said Sue Kelly, vice president of policy analysis and
general counsel at the American Public Power Association. “We’d want to
make sure that this merger received the close scrutiny that it
deserves.”

One question: how much do you think Unicom and PECO paid some consultant to come up with the name Exelon? That is one sinister name. Combine that with the 17 nuclear reactors and the CEO's friendship with Rahmbo, and that's one electric utility you don't want to get on the bad side of. I'm impressed NRG had the guts to reject their bid.